Seven years ago, Monkey Bar opened its green doors to give India a glimpse of its very first gastropub, making regional Indian pub grub so cool that it had people coming back for more! But as they always say, there is so much more to come with a whole lot of fun.
Seven years on, the new menu at Monkey Bar, Kolkata (and Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru) offers several new additions across all sections of its menu.
The evolution of the bar comes forth with 41 new, exciting dishes and eight brilliant signature cocktails to whet every appetite and reinvent the rules of a gastropub experience! With a focus on small plates packed with flavours from different parts of the country, the menu offers a variety of regional Indian inspired dishes that are homely and familiar, a selection of unpretentious, hearty pub food, scrumptious burgers and crisp thin-crust pizzas with new toppings and a line-up of refreshing cocktails in exciting new combinations.
The offering delves deep into lesser-known delicacies as well as popular dishes, giving a fresh perspective to perennial favourites, but retaining its innovative twists. New additions include sizzling small plates from the tandoor— a unique Indian mezze platter, as well as a host of regional dishes recreated with a quintessential Monkey Bar finesse to make for unpretentious and comforting pub grub.
The pizzas have a host of new toppings, and the salads are fresher. The burgers bring back the honest original smoky taste, while adding many more fillings to its repertoire. Not only that, old favourites still have a place on the menu, but come with newer accompaniments, dips and sauces, giving them a fresh new flavour.
The new additions include the muchloved kulchas of Delhi and Amritsar, which play a big role as the place brings you soft, fluffykulchaswith fillings inspired by popular regional fare including the Malabari Mutton Kulcha, Butter Chicken Kulchaand offbeat Onion and Cheese Kulcha using indigenous Kalimpong cheese. More gems fired in the tandoor include ThelawalaMutton Seekh, Bandel and Malai Fish Kebab, Curry Leaves and Pepper Chicken.
Small plates which are perfect bar food, offer dishes inspired by local, regional snacks from around the country. Whether it be the popular Dilli Samosa Chaat with curried potato and green peas stuffed mini samosas topped with chutney and a side of Sindhi style khatti dal,or the Kerala style Mutta Puff comprising boiled eggs, chillies, spices and onions enveloped in a light puff pastry with a curry leaf hollandaise or the GheeRoast Bao—Kundapur-inspired pulled chicken ghee roast stuffed in a Chinese steamed bao.
Indian Odyssey Platter is an ideal dish to order when you are out with a large group of friends. In the true spirit of the gastropub tradition, the cocktail story is still strong. Picking up some old Indian favourites and combining them with unique ingredients is what makes the signature cocktails at Monkey Bar so interesting. Some come with a brand-new avatar like the Rasam Mary— a delightful combination of vodka, tomato pepper rasam, curry leaf and lemon salt rim, or the Tomesh Collins with gin, lime murabba, sweet and sour topped with tonic water, and the Pied Piper comprising of jeera infused whisky, cinnamon, sweet and sour syrup topped with ginger ale.
Other new additions include the Juicy Martini made of vodka, Rhododendron syrup, pear juice and apple juice, Peena Colada prepared with homemade rabri and badam shirin gives a delicious spin to an old favourite dessert.